


starstuff and scars

by demonicxiconic



Series: one gay depressing year [1]
Category: CrankGameplays - Fandom, Unus Annus - Fandom, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Bonding, Crying, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Reading, Nonhuman Characters, Other, Queerplatonic relationship, Scars, and they can pop in and see what’s going on in the real world, can be read as romantic or platonic, death gods don’t need labels, idk it’s wack, in which they live in a void that’s connected to mark n eef’s brains, ohhh who lives in a silk casket inside a void (unus and annus!), sorta?? it’s kind of a symbiotic relationship, theyre kinda in love? but kinda best friends? idk?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27497992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicxiconic/pseuds/demonicxiconic
Summary: there are four days left, and unus is frustrated, and tired, and scared.
Relationships: Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor, Unus & Annus, Unus/Annus
Series: one gay depressing year [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013607
Comments: 3
Kudos: 141





	starstuff and scars

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of my many tributes to ua, because gotdamn i love those idiots. follow me on tumblr @demonicxiconic :3

There’s something very final about four, Annus thinks.

He wakes up to the inside of the coffin, as always, and pushes his way out with ease.

He’s growing sick of the slippery-smooth feeling of silk, but at the same time, he’ll miss it.

Unus is already up, doing what he always does: watching the enormous spiral that takes up most of the space to see what their hosts are doing today. He wants to make a  Pinky and the Brain  joke, but he feels like it won’t be appreciated, judging by the serious expression on his counterpart’s face.

Annus walks up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Unus doesn’t startle at his touch anymore, just hums in acknowledgement.

_ What’re they doing today? _

Annus finally speaks, the words curling around the space and into Unus’s ears like smoke.

** Look for yourself. **

Unus’s reply is like static, all electronic fizzes and pops, which is his equivalent of having a smile in his voice. He steps aside, letting Annus stand at the point in the center of the space and stare up at the looming swirl above him. They’d figured out a little while in that they could see what was happening in the outside world by observing from a very specific viewpoint(which they found out accidentally from Unus walking around and squinting up at the spiral from different points), and it quickly became a part of their routine, to live vicariously through Mark and Ethan’s eyes. To be fair, it wasn’t a fully foolproof plan(the time that Annus had come in when Mark was having some.. personal time, leaving him confused and Unus giggling incessantly, came to mind), but it was their only way to get external information, other than.. it.

They didn’t like to think about the timer anymore.

Annus still has scars from the shattered glass across his knuckles.

He shakes himself out of his thoughts, but he’s sure Unus noticed the glaze that took over his eyes for a moment, the one that meant he was deep in remembering. He’s kind enough not to say anything, though.

Annus squints until his eyes cross, until spots dance through his head and- there!

He lets out a breath of relief as he slips into the back of Mark’s head. He’s in his car, tapping his fingers on his steering wheel. Ethan is there too, whistling along with the song playing on the radio and giggling whenever he goes a bit too flat, Mark shooting him faux-murderous glances when he messes up, which only make him laugh more. He can’t see his host, but he can guess that his eyes are far too fond for the looks to seem genuine.

That’s been happening a lot lately, kind eyes and wry, soft smiles and snuggling up against each other, not for a bit, just to be closer. Annus likes it, likes their closeness, likes what a year can change and deepen.

A year that’s almost up.

He sighs, a melancholy sound, and pulls himself out of Mark’s head. Unus is laying on the ground, just blankly watching the ceiling, but he hears a faint static crackle of recognition.

He walks over and sits down next to his counterpart, looking up at the ceiling as well.

_ What’s going on in there? _

He knocks gently on Unus’s head as he says this, and he giggles softly, shoving his hand away, though the smile quickly fades from his face.

** Why would they make us, if they knew we were going to die? **

Annus tilts his head in confusion, looking down at Unus.

_ Well, when someone has a child, they know that child is going to die eventually. How is that different? _

Unus finally makes eye contact with him, the blinding white of his eyes meeting the burning void of Annus’s. 

** They set our death date. They knew we only would have a year to live and yet they still made us. **

His voice is getting distorted, like disconnected radio waves, and there’s a quiet, constant whine building in Annus’s ears. Unus is rarely angry, and as such, Annus is almost intrigued to see what he’s like when he snaps.

_ But they had so much fun in this year, and.. and we did too. _

Unus looks at him again, and there are pearl-white tears of frustration swimming in his eyes. He remembers the first time he stared into those eyes, remembers the confusion and fear, but also the faint recognition, the gravitational pull, the feeling of  _ i know you, even if i don’t realize it yet, i have known you for a hundred lifetimes even if i have forgotten every one of them, we were created from the same starstuff and our atoms could not bear to be apart.  _

** You don’t understand, Annus, they made us for their own amusement! They could have done this on their own, because what do we do for the channel? We show up and we make announcements, and we leave little messages, and that’s it. They could’ve been their own goddamn mascots. **

Unus’s voice is warped and furious, a tornado twisting the earth below it beyond recognition, and he’s standing up, waving his hands angrily as Annus watches in awe. 

No, he can’t just watch.

He grabs his hand with both of his own, looking Unus in the eyes as he stands. He tries to tear his hand away, but Annus’s grip is firm, his stare both piercing and calming.

_ I understand. I might be the only one out there that does understand. I’ve been in the same boat as you for a year, an awful, incredible year. _

He changes his grip so that his still-healing scars from the timer’s glass are visible, and he sees another tear slip out as Unus’s eyes widen in recognition.

_ We both know anger gets you nowhere. _

Unus’s shoulders slump, and he sniffs, squeezing Annus’s hand so hard it nearly hurts.

And then he’s crying, really crying, falling into his counterpart’s chest and clutching at his lapels, and Annus feels his breath catch in his throat before letting out a quiet sob.

** I it hu r ts s o m uc h , A nn n u s, t h ey d i dn ‘t e v e n t h ink a b ou t u s , t he y - **

Annus shushes his broken, panicked whispers, running a comforting hand down his back even as oil-black tears roll down his face and his fingers shake.

_ Shh, I know, they- they didn’t consider- but it’s okay, it’ll be okay, yeah? _

Even to his own ears, it sounds like he’s more trying to comfort himself than Unus.

Annus doesn’t know how long they stand there holding each other, trembling and letting their frustrations flow.

It’s Unus that pulls back first with a gentle smile, wiping the last remaining drips of pitch from Annus’s face.

** Hey, don’t cry. It’s our birthday soon, right? **

Annus makes a quiet sound that’s partway between a hiccup and a laugh, squeezing his hands.

They sit down on the steps leading to their casket, hands intertwined, breathing evening out as they bask in the comfortable silence.

Annus stares up at the spiral in the sky, deliberately not looking at Unus. He knows more tears will spring to his eyes if he does.

_ Y’know, if I’d had the option, I wouldn’t choose to die with anyone else. _

** Yeah, me neither, buddy. **

The happy crackle in Unus’s voice makes him smile, and then sigh. He leans into him, head on his shoulder, at the same time that Unus snakes an arm around him and pulls him closer.

_ I love you. _

He feels his counterpart tense, and is about to apologize when he hears his mumbled reply.

** Love you too. **

He turns to look at Annus, a sarcastic little smile spreading on his lips.

** What happened to “that’s only a human thing”, hmm? **

Annus hums, snuggling further into his side.

_ Maybe I changed my mind. _

Unus chuckles, dropping a soft kiss on the top of Annus’s head and letting his head loll back, resting against the casket and laying in the silence for a few moments. Before he can begin to drift off into his thoughts, he speaks up.

** Hey, Annus? **

Annus’s reply is quiet and sleepy, making Unus smile again.

_Yeah?_

** Thanks for making this the happiest year of my life. **

They hold each other close, eyes slipping shut as they greet the inevitable last days.


End file.
